Another Year, Another Opportunity (1/2/2013)

My USBSF teammates and I welcomed in the New Year in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where we are currently training on the track which will host this year’s World Championships.

For most competitive winter athletes, the short period of time between Christmas and New Year’s can be candidly described as the calm before the storm. As it stands, most winter sports’ respective World Championships are scheduled for either mid-to-late February or early March. That precious week, which most spend at home with loved ones, is an essential period of time to relax, recover and reset before making the forward push towards the culmination of our seasons. The start of a new year is also an ideal time to reflect on the one that has passed, be thankful for the opportunities that we have been given and establish our goals for the coming year.

Although I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions, with every new year, I do think it’s important to ascertain realistic personal and performance goals, with the intention of achieving them over those 12 months. Whether you are an athlete or not, I believe that if you live every day to the best of your ability and give every effort to be the best ‘you’ you can be, an annual self proclamation isn’t really necessary. Rather than wait 12 months to improve an aspect of your life, I think that making the conscious decision to address and change more proactively almost always improves one’s chances of success.

2012 was very good to me. I feel very fortunate to have a loving and supportive family, loyal friends and teammates and to have been given the opportunity to compete for the country that has given me everything. For all athletes, a strong support staff is an essential, vital component of success and I feel very blessed to have been able to share my journey with those individuals. Stepping to the line wearing your nation’s colors, alongside others whom share in the same goals makes the training and preparation all the more worth it. The exclamation point to my year was winning my first world championship on home ice. To pour your heart and soul, blood, sweat and tears into anything and actually see your goals come into fruition is a very surreal experience. That being said, complacency can be a very detrimental to any individual and it is essential that each year, each season is viewed as a new beginning and a new opportunity independent of past successes.

As for 2013 – aside from being the best son, brother, friend and teammate I can humanly be – winning a world championship on foreign soil has been long set in stone as a goal, which I have every intention of accomplishing. Through hard work and a strong belief in myself and my teammates, 2013 could very well be good to me too.